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Piero's Light

In Search of Piero della Francesca: A Renaissance Painter and the Revolution in Art, Science and Religion

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1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

An innovative painter in the early generation of Renaissance artists, Piero dell Francesca was also an expert on religious topics and a mathematician who wanted to use perspective and geometry to make painting a "true science."


Although only sixteen of Piero's works survive, few art historians doubt his importance in the Renaissance. A 1992 conference of international experts meeting at the National Gallery of Art deemed Piero "one of the most highly regarded painters of the early Renaissance, and one of the most respected artists of all time."


In recent years, the quest for Piero has continued among intrepid scholars, and Piero's Light uncovers the life of this remarkable artistic revolutionary and enduring legacy of the Italian Renaissance.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 9, 2013
      The latest book from Witham (Picasso and the Chess Player) is a workmanlike examination of the early Renaissance polymath Piero, whose life and accomplishments are used to survey “the precipitous changes in art, religion, and science” in the painter’s time and beyond. The biographical sketch is necessarily rough and speculative (little is known about his life), but Witham accessibly reviews the Quattrocento’s intellectual, political, and religious climate, summarizing Christian Platonism, Alberti’s On Painting, and describing Piero as an artist who synthesized these ideas in paintings such as “The Flagellation of Christ.” In addition, Piero authored treatises on abacus mathematics, perspective, and geometrical shapes that would foreshadow the scientific revolution. Witham demonstrates how Piero’s art and contributions to mathematics were absorbed over the centuries following his death, and how he participated in the evolving discourse on art interpretation, beauty, and science. Occasionally the narrative can feel shapeless and long-winded, with Piero appearing as a mere footnote among waves of summaries of Kepler, Newton, Kant, Helmholtz, and many other philosophers, art historians, and scientists. However, the book’s journalistic flavor may appeal to readers and distinguishes it from existing literature on the artist. 16 pages of color illus. Agent: Laurie Abekemeier, Defiore & Company.

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  • English

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